Original article
Catchment-based water management in the mining industry: Challenges and solutions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.10.012Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Mining companies are encouraged to adopt a catchment-based approach to address water issues beyond their operational fence.

  • It is argued that that this approach will be challenging to implement due to the need to coordinate diverse actor interests.

  • Implementation challenges may be similar to those faced by governments promoting Integrated Water Resources Management.

  • Three potential implementation challenges are identified: fit, horizontal interplay, and vertical interplay.

  • Mechanisms for overcoming these challenges include clarifying the system boundary for action and assigning accountabilities.

Abstract

The mining industry’s aspirations towards a catchment-based water management approach have similarities with the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) which has been committed to by many governments around the world. However IWRM has proved challenging to implement in practice. This paper considers the question: Which challenges are mining companies likely to face when implementing a catchment-based approach at a mine site level? Drawing on lessons from the IWRM literature, it is argued that three coordination challenges must be overcome: fit, horizontal interplay, and vertical interplay. The problem of fit arises because the boundaries of mining leases do not align with water catchments, necessitating collaboration between companies to manage cumulative impacts. Problems of horizontal interplay arise because mining sites are typically one of several water users within a catchment, requiring that they liaise with diverse stakeholders to understand the multiple values provided by water. Problems of vertical interplay arise across organizational levels and require alignment between corporate and site priorities. Drawing on examples from Australia, Mongolia and Germany, each coordination challenge is described, mechanisms for overcoming each challenge are discussed, and the paper concludes with future research directions.

Introduction

In 2015, the World Economic Forum ranked water crises as the top global systemic risk in terms of impact (World Economic Forum, 2015). Historically, mining companies had limited engagement in water management and policy, primarily negotiating with governments to secure access to the water needed for operations (Kunz and Moran, 2014). However the responsible use and management of water are now a crucial component of sustainability strategy and a key performance indicator within sustainability reports (BHP Billiton, 2012, Rio Tinto Alcan, 2011).

Most of the water goals currently articulated by mining companies focus on eco-efficiency initiatives within the mine-lease boundary, e.g. reducing the overall volume of freshwater consumed and increasing the use and reuse of low quality water. However, there is growing pressure for companies to adopt a proactive role in addressing water management challenges beyond their operational fence line (Barrett, 2009, Kemp et al., 2010, Kunz and Moran, 2014). This is most recently reflected in ICMM’s 2014 Water Stewardship Framework (ICMM, 2014b) which encourages member companies to “Understand the social, cultural, economic and environmental value of water at the catchment scale to identify material water stewardship risks and provide context for corporate and operational water management”. The adoption of a “watershed” or “catchment-based” approach is also promoted by business associations, NGOs and UN agencies beyond the mining industry (IPIECA, 2013, UN Global Compact, 2011, WBCSD, 2013).

While these aspirations represent a positive step towards greater accountability by mining companies on water issues, challenges may be faced when implementing a catchment-based approach at the mine site level. In particular, there are similarities with the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which has been committed to by many governments around the world (Pollard and du Toit, 2008, Sullivan, 2014). However, despite its international prominence, critics contend that IWRM has not been implemented effectively (Biswas, 2008, Hering and Ingold, 2012, Rahaman and Varis, 2005).

In this paper, I argue that similarities between the mining industry’s aspiration towards a catchment-based approach and those of IWRM suggest that analogous coordination challenges could be faced as well as resolved in implementation. An agenda for future research is outlined, highlighting key research questions to address.

Section snippets

Coordination challenges associated with IWRM

The importance of adopting an “integrated” approach to water management was recognized as early as 1977 during the UN Conference on Water in Mar del Plata, Argentina (Rahaman and Varis, 2005). However, it was not until 1992 that IWRM gained prominence in the international community as part of the Rio de Janeiro Summit and the Dublin Conference (Gallego-Ayala, 2013). During the Dublin conference, four guiding principles were developed which strongly influenced the future evolution of the IWRM

Implementing a catchment approach within the mining sector: an analytical framework for identifying challenges and solutions

The mining industry aspires to a catchment-based approach along the lines of the IWRM “soft” solutions whereby industry associations such as the ICMM are encouraging companies to integrate best practice guidelines into their water management strategies. I therefore hypothesize that analogous coordination challenges could be faced during implementation. Research into the communication structures between employees within mining companies has already revealed evidence of silos across

Discussion and conclusion

To summarize, Fig. 4 presents a conceptual diagram to illustrate how the problems of fit, vertical interplay and horizontal interplay may arise during the implementation of catchment-based water strategies within the mining context. Table 2 summarizes how each coordination challenge is faced, describes potential mechanisms for overcoming it, and poses a set of questions to guide future research.

The problem of fit results in two research questions. First, when developing a catchment-based water

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2015 Sustainable Development Indicators in the Mining Industry conference, held in Vancouver, Canada (12–15 July 2015). I would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for their encouraging comments. I am also grateful to Carol Bond for her constructive feedback on an earlier draft.

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